From: Justin Ruben, MoveOn.org Political Action
Dear MoveOn member,
In 2004, MoveOn made an ad about George Bush that was one of the most covered political ads, for the least money, in history—meaning, tens of millions more people saw it than we paid to show it to.1
Two weeks ago I asked our creative team to do it again—to give me the very best ideas they had for ads or videos to show that Mitt Romney would be great for the 1%, but terrible for the rest of us.
I just got the scripts back, and I’m totally blown away—I was hoping for one breakout hit, but there are at least six that are memorable, hilarious, and devastating—each one as good as or better than our ad in 2004.
Now we’re in a pickle because we didn’t budget for that many ads. So I’m coming to you for help.
It’s hard to overstate how crucial it is for progressives to define Romney. He’s gaining in the polls, and the election looks increasingly daunting. Last month, the Romney campaign hauled in $106 million, blowing away the Obama campaign for a second month in a row. If this keeps up, President Obama could be the first presidential incumbent to be outspent in modern history—and that doesn’t even count the Super PACs.2
We can’t compete with that directly—we don’t have $9 million to drop in one day on attack ads like the Kochs do3. But we can make and air these ads for $600,000, and I think they’re powerful enough to generate tens of millions of dollars worth of media coverage, spreading our message exponentially and making your contributions really compete with big money donors. We just need to raise the money to do it.
Can you chip in $5 to make these devastating ads about Mitt Romney?
The weakness of the economy means that President Obama faces an uphill battle. A Romney victory would be a catastrophe—he’s promised to slash vital programs like Medicare, Social Security, and environmental protection, and repeal Obamacare, while giving a huge round of tax breaks to the 1%. He’d also be in a position to nominate up to three Supreme Court justices in his first term, skewing the court further to the right for a generation.
But the more voters learn about Romney’s history with Bain Capital, and policies favoring the very rich, the less they like him. That’s why it’s so urgent to get the message out.
The right ad can swing an election—that’s what the Swift Boat veterans did to John Kerry. Theirs was a lie, while ours are just as powerful—but true.
We just need to raise the money to get these ads made and on the air while there’s still time to define Romney. Please help!
Click here to donate $5.
Thanks for all you do.
–Justin, Laura, Emily, Victoria, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. “Censored at the Super Bowl,” Newsweek, January 29, 2004
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=277117&id=45883-21095459-gr4rcTx&t=4
2. “Romney raises more than $106 million in June,” CBS, July 9, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=277095&id=45883-21095459-gr4rcTx&t=5
3. “Koch-backed group launches $9 million ad campaign against health law,” The Hill, June 29, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=277118&id=45883-21095459-gr4rcTx&t=6
Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in
We have six brilliant ad scripts that expose Mitt Romney as the candidate for the 1%. We can create an ad campaign that generates tens of millions of dollars in media coverage for a fraction of that cost. But we have to set the budget today—can you chip in?
BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.